chẳng

See also: chang, Chang, cháng, chàng, chāng, and chǎng

Muong

Etymology

Cognate with Vietnamese chẳng, Nguôn chẳng.

Adverb

chẳng

1. no

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Vietnamese

Etymology

Originally meant "no" in early Vietnamese; this usage was replaced by không, but chẳng is still used for effect. Cognate with Muong chẳng, Nguôn chẳng. Compare Thai ช่าง (châang), Lao ຊ່າງ (sāng, “to not care”). See also chăng and chả.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕaŋ˧˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕaŋ˧˨]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [caŋ˨˩˦]

Adverb

chẳng • (庄, 拯, 庒, 極, 丕, 丞)

1. not at all

   Chẳng biết. ― No idea.

2. even if not

   Chẳng chua, nhưng vẫn có thể là chanh.

   Even if it isn’t sour, it could still be a lemon.

3. if not
4. there is not

Synonyms

• (not at all): đâu, không, chả, đếch (vulgar), đách (vulgar), đéo (vulgar), cóc, ứ

References

• "chẳng" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)
• Lê Sơn Thanh, "Nom-Viet.dat", WinVNKey (details)